


Of Cowardice and Lions

by boxuan



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Bad Ending, Exes, F/F, First Love, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2019-02-17
Packaged: 2019-09-27 02:35:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17153681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boxuan/pseuds/boxuan
Summary: Nayeon and Momo see the shared sky above them slowly shattering while Dahyun and Mina are trying to set up their own one.Jeongyeon and Sana are trying to drive each other to the edge by seeing who can hurt who more.They all don’t seem to be able to let go.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> "bravery and strength go with her name
> 
> still remember how you tried to hold these walls through perfect storms
> 
> oh, you lost so many homes
> 
> was it hope that kept you alive through the years? should I even call it living?
> 
>  
> 
> you said the water’s cold but still warmer than your skin."

Nayeon often went to the cinema with her mother when she was younger. Never really children movies - no, Mrs. Im usually used those occasions to let it look like she took care of Nayeon -, but Hollywood movies. Great, grand movies that painted life way better than it actually turned out to be. Building happy ends onto horrible stories. Giving poor Cinderella a prince eventually.

Beside the rose-colored glasses pressed onto her nose bridge from childhood on, Nayeon also got this weird pleasure in being dramatic. Sometimes, it’s fun. Crying fake tears when Jeongyeon slightly hit her with her algebra book for teasing her? Fun. Sneaking out with Momo and kissing her, the rain pouring? _So much fun_.

Sometimes, it’s not so fun.

"I’m serious, Jihyo", Nayeon barks, covering the one ear that’s not occupied by her phone. "No, I can’t discuss it here. I’m in the hallway. People will hear."

"So?", Jihyo’s voice sounds distracted. Nayeon hears pens scraping on paper. "Whatever gossip it is, it can wait. I’ve got chemistry and you know how much I- Oh, dammit!" There’s a screeching, supposedly coming from Jihyo‘s pen. "Just talk to Jeongyeon about it, Nayeon."

"But-"

_Jeongyeon is the one person we can’t tell this_. The words keep being stuck in Nayeon’s throat, they never make their way out because Jihyo hangs up on them before they can try to.

Nayeon groans, disgruntled. She slams her phone into her bag and leans against her locker for a moment, thinking about her options.

 

She could try calling Jihyo again, but at this point, she probably wouldn’t return the call. And Momo - Momo wouldn’t know what to do either.

In fact, Nayeon thinks, whenever she needs something, she turns to Jeongyeon. Sure, Jihyo is the most sensitive between the three of them - and arguably the one with the most common sense -, but Jeongyeon is good at being pragmatic. If Nayeon had to hide a corpse, the first person she’d call is Jeongyeon.

 

Too bad this is a corpse Jeongyeon once loved so much it smashed her heart into little pieces.

 

"What do you mean, she’s back? You should’ve-"

"Told you sooner? Yeah, I tried", Nayeon scoffs. Jihyo manages to form her lips into an apologetic smile. Nayeon had waited for Jihyo’s class to be over to pick her up. Rushing through the hallways - the stress makes them move quicker than usual, -, Jihyo runs her hand through her hair.

"If I had known…"

_You would’ve gone out of class right away_ , Nayeon silently finishes for her.

"When did she arrive?"

"Yesterday, apparently."

Nayeon watches Jihyo’s eyebrows narrow, the brain behind her forehead obviously working hard.

 

"How do we tell Jeongyeon?"

 

Nayeon darts her a quick glance before continuing to run to her room.

 

Whenever there’s a crisis, they meet in Nayeon, Jeongyeon and Momo’s room. It’s not necessarily bigger or even more comfortable than the other ones. Nayeon supposes that, over the years at boarding school, it has just developed into a habit. When Dahyun crushed hard on their (now graduated) senior Jieun, they listened to her blabbering about how she got smiled at by her “twice in one day!”. When Jihyo finally convinced her parents to let her study at her friends’ school, they popped coke bottles on Nayeon and Momo’s bed.

Now, Momo has snuggled onto her bed, pressing Nayeon’s stuffed bunny against her chest (she says it’s like a second version of Nayeon because it smells like her ; not that she would need it, ever, as there barely is a second whether they’re not around each other). Jihyo sits next to her, fiddling with her hands. Her restless energy appears even more when she’s nervous, or, like now, stressed out. Nayeon is still, sitting on Jeongyeon’s bed. There’s barely space for Jihyo and Momo on one bed ; Momo swears the school ordered them this narrow to avoid couple building. (Of course, they still share one. They’re Nayeon and Momo.)

"So, how do we do this?", Momo quietly asks. Jihyo rubs her eyes. "God, I don’t know… are we sure she’s back?"

"Sooyoung told me", Nayeon patiently repeats the story to calm Jihyo’s nerves. "When she went to the airport - she went to Europe in her holidays, came back yesterday -, she saw her with some bags and suitcases. Apparently, her appearance wasn’t to miss."

"It’s so weird, though", Momo mumbles. "If she came back, why wouldn’t she tell us?" She looks up, looking hurt. Nayeon’s heart clenches, and she instantly reaches for Momo’s hand to squeeze.

"You know how she is", Nayeon softly says, and after shooting Jihyo a short side look, Jihyo hurries to nod, "she probably wanted to surprise us."

"Or she thinks we’re picking sides", Jihyo thinks out loud.

 

A moment passes.

 

"Well, I’m not on anyone’s side", Momo says firmly. "I love Jeongyeon as much as I love-"

The door opens in a swift.

 

"Hey", Jeongyeon chirps, looking on her phone while entering the door. "Did you hear that Sojung and Hyunjung made out so hard Hyunjung threw up? Love truly is in the air."

She chuckles to herself - if it was any other day, Nayeon would’ve scolded her for laughing about something this gross -, then she looks in the faces of her roommates and Jihyo. Her smile fades. "Hey, what’s wrong? You guys look like someone died."

She’s not exaggerating. The three of them are staring at her like deer in headlights, wearing horrified expressions at the sight of their best friend.

"Hey, Jeong", Nayeon softly answers, "um.. we’ve got news. Kind of."

"Have you impregnated Momo?", Jeongyeon asks, but the lighthearted joke doesn’t match her face. Slight suspicion narrows her eyebrows.

"Nothing like that", Jihyo says. There’s worry in her eyes. "The thing is-"

But before she can go any further than that, Momo interrupts her, her voice breaking.

 

"Sana’s back."


	2. First

“Babe, close your eyes.”

Jeongyeon does as she’s told, bracing herself for whatever Sana has planned. She feels something pulled over her head. “Look”, Sana breathes, and Jeongyeon cautiously opens her eyes.

Her hand reflexively jumps to the hat on her hair.

“You made me a beanie?”, she guesses, trying to make out something of the wobbling thing sitting on her head.

“Yeah!”, Sana beams. She gets on her toes, trying to adjust it to her liking. Jeongyeon can’t suppress a grin when she sees Sana biting on her tongue with a highly concentrated expression. Butterflies still find their way to Jeongyeon’s stomach whenever she sees - or even thinks about - her girlfriend. Even though it’s been a few months now, her head still gets dizzy whenever she gets to kiss Sana.

“I bought emblems that reminded me of you and sewed them onto the beanie”, Sana now says. “Here-“, she points to Jeongyeon’s left temple, “a scorpion, for your star sign, and here-“, Jeongyeon feels her finger above her ear, “a microphone, for the band, and, finally, here-“, Sana  gently touches the area around the other two emblems, “a rocket. Remember?”

“Of course I do”, Jeongyeon smiles. How could she forget their first kiss? They were bailing on some party their classmate threw, laughter filling the void of a summer night’s silence. And they discovered a near playground, and soon they found themselves in a rocket, originally built for children, but somewhat still big enough for them. (They were pressed against each other, though, but they didn’t seem to mind.) And then - it clicked, just like that, no one knew who was going in first, they read from each other’s lips. Kissing until Jeongyeon had to gasp for breath.

Jeongyeon has been taken an affectionate pleasure to rockets ever since.

  
“Thank you so much, Sana”, Jeongyeon mumbles, pulling her into a hug. She can’t see her lips, but she knows Sana is smiling right now.

 

“You’re welcome, Jeongie.”

 

 

“If you take this and put it on there- no, there”, Sana lets out a disgruntled sound and snatches the snow out of Jeongyeon’s bare hands, putting it onto their snowman the way it suits her vision (to which Jeongyeon sadly has zero access to).“Jeongie, you know I love you a lot, but you have no talent in this area”, Sana says, letting out a small chuckle when Jeongyeon pretends to sulk. “Could you maybe get me a hot chocolate? Pretty please?”

“Already on my way”, Jeongyeon smiles.

Nayeon and Momo, who have finished their snowman earlier than the rest, greet her by waving their gloved hands. “Has your girlfriend disqualified you for snowman building?”, Nayeon asks, raising her eyebrows. Momo pinches her arm, to which Nayeon responds by putting a fake hurt expression. As they’re squabbling with each other, Jeongyeon pours Sana the drink of her choice, rolling her eyes at her friends.  
When she gets back, her girlfriend is almost finished. “Wow!”, Jeongyeon’s mouth turns into a little ‘o’ in astonishment. “This looks really great.” Sana turned their shared disaster into a nicely formed snowman out of three big balls, even with snow arms and a sort of face.

“Thanks!” Sana takes the chocolate from Jeongyeon’s hands, but then hesitates when she sees Jeongyeon’s hands, frozen red. “You know what? Here. Let it warm you up.” Sana encloses Jeongyeon’s hands around the mug again. “Or would you rather have my gloves? They’re a bit snowy, but-“

“Sana”, Jeongyeon interrupts her, “it’s fine. But thank you.” She gives her a small kiss on the cheek. Sana smiles, and Jeongyeon’s heart does a little loop in her chest.

“Do you think you won the contest?”

“We probably didn’t”, Sana sounds disappointed. “Jihyo and Tzuyu did pretty well.”

“No need to be so competitive”, Jeongyeon jokes, “it’s just a friendly game, right?”

Sana puckers her lips. “Yeah, it’s just- ugh, you know how I get. Bossy. Bad loser. I hate it, but I can’t help it.”

“You’re dedicated”, Jeongyeon corrects her, slightly nudging her side. “That’s what I like about you.”

“Like?”, Sana teases, a smile building up on her face.

“Love”, Jeongyeon grins, giving her another kiss.

 

 

“I’m going out with Yeri tonight, by the way”, Sana says, flipping the magazine in front of her and sipping on her coffee. Jeongyeon’s gaze lingers at Sana’s relaxed expression for a second. “Oh. Where to?”

“We’ll see”, Sana mumbles, fixated on the new Chanel collection. “Yeri found this Chinese restaurant that’s supposed to be amazing, so maybe there… why you’re asking?”

“No reason.” Jeongyeon tries to clear her throat from the lump in it.  
They say jealousy originates from insecurity. But maybe it’s greed that it really feeds on?

Jeongyeon likes the way Sana flips her hair, brings out the sparking in her eyes when she’s talking to her. Likes how she laughs, loud and freely, when she forgets her manners and doesn’t put her hand in front of her mouth.

 

Fear increases proportionally to love.

 

 

Fighting with Sana is smashing plates to the wall and trying to put them together afterwards. Jeongyeon’s temper isn’t that bad - certainly better than Nayeon’s, much worse than Jihyo’s -, but Sana manages to tickle it out of its cage and enrage it every time. Whether intentionally or not, Jeongyeon doesn’t know. When they’re fighting, she doesn’t care either.

“I’ve had it”, she growls, forming her hands into fists one second, then running them through her hair the next. Jeongyeon never knows where to put her energy during arguing, this is also why she’s standing on her feet right now. Sana sits in her favorite armchair, trying her best to look steady and relaxed. She can’t hide the whiteness on her tensed knuckles, though.

“You’re being ridiculous”, Sana firmly says, trying to make eye contact with Jeongyeon, who’s averting her gaze to somewhere else (it’s hard to keep her anger burning when she’s looking at Sana, but she really, really needs to get her point across).

“Why? Because I don’t want to be your second-best girlfriend?”

Sana looks at her, eyebrows narrowed in confusion. “What?” Then she realizes what this really is about. “God, Jeongyeon, is this because of Kyungri?”

“It’s about everyone”, Jeongyeon spits. “Kyungri, Yeri, everyone. For fuck’s sake, is having your attention for more than once a week too much to ask for?”

There’s a brief glance of hurt rushing over Sana’s face before she turns her expression into something supercilious.  
“I thought we were past that point in our relationship where we don’t trust each other. But I guess I was wrong.”

 

“Well, how am I supposed to trust you when you-“

“When I what?”

  
Now Sana has stood up as well, stepping towards Jeongyeon. She’s not nearly as tall as Jeongyeon is, but when Sana is angry - seriously mad, like she appears to be right now -, their difference in height is barely noticeable to her.  
“Go on”, Sana breathes. “When I _what?_ ”

Jeongyeon bites on her lip, obviously regretting the words that half slipped out of her mouth. Pride doesn’t let her lower her head (or even apologize), however.  
“When I’m such a whore?”, Sana huffs.

Jeongyeon flinches at the harsh word. “I never said that.”

“But you would have.” Her voice cools Jeongyeon’s anger down in a moment. Panic, shame, guilt for – well, for what exactly? – flood her body. She’s close to drowning.

  
“Listen, Sana, I’m just-“

  
Lonely, she wants to say. Insecure. So deeply afraid that what she fears is going to happen to them.

“Forget it”, Sana mumbles, turning her back to Jeongyeon. “I’m going.”

She leaves without her coat and keys. Jeongyeon tells herself it’s not her place to get worried.

The bed feels cold that night.

 

* * *

 

What’s scariest is that she can’t remember how she fell in love with Sana. As in, she doesn’t know what life was like when she was not head over heels. It’s just how life is supposed to be ; the sky is blue, birds can fly, Jeongyeon loves Sana more than anything.

And then Sana left her, and the blue sky pierced her eyes and vultures continued to fly over her head.  
Her insides squashed and scattered in pieces, but the rest of the world is standing with its chin held up high.  
  
Jeongyeon hasn’t told this anyone, but she has given up a lot of things. Solely because they remind her of Sana.

Coffee? Replaced by a mixture of black tea and energy drink. Anything to not think about how Sana drinks three cups in the morning to wake up (and another two during the day).  
Cherry Vanilla - Sanas’s perfume, and therefore Jeongyeon’s formerly favorite smell. Now it’s gasoline.

Love.  
  
“I feel nauseous”, Jeongyeon mumbles, squeezing Nayeon’s hand until Nayeon’s expression turns pained.

“You and me too, buddy. Sure you’re up to this?”

Jeongyeon remains silent for a second before going, “Not really.”

Momo’s gaze almost continually stays on the clock, flinching every time a minute passes. Not even Dahyun - being the joker of the group, after all -, tries to lift their spirits up.

They thought it was best to welcome Sana in a familiar environment - thus, they’re waiting in Jihyo’s room. Jeongyeon’s room would be more comfortable, but… well. Bad memories were a great elephant in the room during the decision.  
“I feel like I can’t breathe”, Jeongyeon suddenly stands up, breaking the icy silence. “I’m going.”

Her friends exchange looks, obviously trying to figure out what to do. Momo carefully says, “But Sana is coming soon.”

Jeongyeon stops in her movements, her back to the others, while she’s grabbing her coat.

“See you later.”

It sounds like she’s fighting back tears. Owing to how hardly she slams the door, it’s mostly based on anger more than anything else.

“Take care of yourself”, Jihyo calls after her.  
Silence.

“Well”, Nayeon eventually says. “It’s like Sana never left in the first place.”

  
And then, the door slams open.  
“Hey”, Sana smiles at them, “have you guys missed me?”

 

 

Sana has always adored Shakespeare. How he manages to lock a character‘s Intention into their ribcage and only show pseudo hearts on their face. Torn individuals that, eventually, might drive into insanity because of it.  
Sana‘s cheeks hurt so much from the constant smiling she’s forcing on her lips to hide her dead eyes.  
And there‘s the melancholy. She supposes she shouldn’t have expected her friends to pull a stop until she reunited with them ; they’re not characters from a game Sana is playing. They have their own lives to return to, even if Sana is not around.  
She hates it. She missed out so much.

“So”, Sana beams (ouch, ouch, ouch), “what are the news? Changes? Any new plans for the future?”  
Mina speaks up first. “Nayeon and Momo got grosser, somehow.” She smirks at them. Nayeon replies by pressing a kiss on Momo’s cheek, deliberately proving Mina’s point.

Sana notices Dahyun not laughing with them, rather looking upset. When she catches Sana’s eye, her narrowed eyebrows straighten and she gives Sana a little smile. Sana’s heart drops. It looks as fake as her own.  
“I became head girl”, Nayeon says with a little shrug as if to say, no big deal. “And my wonderful girlfriend here is our lacrosse team captain.”  
“Sweet”, Sana’s mouth forms into a little o. “Congrats, you too!”  
They talk for a while, but nothing of substance. Gossip. Who got together and who broke off ; who’s new in boarding school and who got kicked out.  
  
“Well”, Sana clears her throat, her heart impatient to ask the question she wanted to scream the entire evening, “what about Jeongyeon?”

The others exchange glances that tell more than words could ever do.

“She couldn’t be here tonight”, Nayeon says. “She, uh, told us to say hi.”Chaeyoung crunches her nose unintentionally as if to say, _don’t overdo it with the lies_.

Sana keeps smiling. Shakespeare would be proud of her.

“Should we go out and grab a bite? I’m starving!”

 

  
Usually, Dahyun enjoys being out at night. It’s silent, but a different kind of silence she knows from home. Peaceful, not tense. Tonight, it seems suffocating.

She lets herself fall behind the group, fading out the chatter of her friends and Sana. Dahyun’s good at fading out things. Sounds. Emotions. Her parents hurt her often enough to get perfect at it. She learned to put on a smile and live on, despite her aching heart.

Mina not acknowledging them as a couple cuts it into pieces, though. Hard to ignore that. She puts it into different perspectives, but can’t find a positive outcome.

Mina didn’t tell Sana because she forgot she’s in a relationship.

Mina didn’t tell Sana because she doesn’t consider it important.

Mina didn’t tell Sana because she plans to break up soon.

She only lifts her gaze from her shoes when someone takes her hand. Mina. Worriedly intertwining their hands, she asks, “Hey, are you okay?”

Dahyun can’t bring herself to lie to her girlfriend, so she just grunts. Mina bites her lip, but doesn’t ask further. That’s something Dahyun usually appreciates deeply about Mina ; that she doesn’t try to understand, but comforts her nonetheless.

Right now, it kind of sucks.

Does she have to be the bigger person? Are they not equally at fault? After all, Dahyun is as much as Mina’s girlfriend as Mina is hers. Can she even talk about fault like the matter is so greatly important?

In an attempt of being reckless – careless, emotionless -, she swallows her pride and asks, “Mina, why didn’t you tell Sana we’re a couple?”

Mina stops, looking at her with a genuine surprised expression.

“I mean, its fine”, Dahyun lets out a nervous laugh as if to say _, no big deal_ , even though her heart squirms something else, “but- I was kind of wondering?”

Mina blushes as she fidgets with hands and words equally. “Oh, Dahyun... I wanted to, but I couldn’t figure out a way to tell her... normally? See, if you think about it-”

She stops to take Dahyuns hands properly and look her in the eye. Minas soft brown eyes slowly melt Dahyuns carefully put on armor away, leaving her trembling. “We didn’t exactly tell anyone, did we? Our friends knew before we did, and- everything in my head sounded so... weird.”

“´Hey, this is my girlfriend, your friend whom you’ve known since forever´”, Dahyun tries to joke, making Mina chuckle.

“Exactly”, Mina says after a moment, “so... I kind of decided to let Sana figure it out herself. I’m sorry, I should’ve asked you first.” She slightly bumps her shoulder on Dahyun’s. “I mean, were a ´we´ now, right?”

“Right”, Dahyun feels honey running through her chest, like any time Mina says something sweet. So, basically every other minute. “I’m sorry, too. I could’ve said something. I shouldn’t have just relied on you.” She raises her pinky. “Friends? Um, I mean, girlfriends?”

Mina laughs, the bell-like sound ringing in Dahyun’s head and leaving her lightheaded.

“Definitely girlfriends”, Mina says while intertwining her pinky with Dahyuns.

“Hey!”, Chaeyoung yells ; the others have gotten ahead of them. Dahyun spots Sana with a slightly puzzled look. “You lovebirds coming or what?”

Dahyun looks at Mina and beams. “Yeah, we are.”

 

 

Jeongyeon buries her hands in her jacket while she’s dragging her feet forwards. It’s way too cold for summer, she thinks, but since Sana is in town again…

She crunches her face when the cold wind hits her, and finally, when she doesn’t know where she’s heading anymore (like  she ever did), she sits down at some bench in front of a park.

Jeongyeon exhales, closing her eyes. She listens to the faint traffic noises - the park is pretty much secluded from the city -, and glares at the blinking lights from far away. She kind of feels like she put herself on a strange planet, far away from everything. From Sana.

Jeongyeon decides to stay for a while.

She’s put up her feet onto the rest after a while, and as she’s playing some game Dahyun has recommended her to try the other day, a silhouette steps into the corner of her eye. She almost falls from the bench when she recognizes the person who has stopped in front of her.  
“Hey, Jeongyeon”, Jiyeon grins. “What you’re doing here?”  
“H-Hey”, Jeongyeon stutters, a bit taken aback by the sight of her ex. “I’m just- um.” She hurries to sit down adequately and subtly tries to straighten her hair. Even though they broke up on good terms, she’s still nervous around Jiyeon. She is extremely pretty and snarky and always manages to mess her up, with the slightest of efforts. Her mind immediately wanders to Sana. Jeongyeon silently scolds herself for drawing the comparison.

“I’m just… uh, taking some time for myself, I guess.” Jiyeon eyes her tousled hair, cursory put on jacket, and messy makeup.

“Running away from something?”, she assumes, sitting down next to Jeongyeon.

“Kind of”, Jeongyeon sheepishly scratches the back of her head. Jiyeon doesn’t ask what she’s running from. This is both of her most and least favorite thing about her - Jiyeon doesn’t care for details, has no spark of curiosity in her body.

Sana would have asked, Jeongyeon notices, and immediately gets punished for the thought by a sharp pain in her heart. _Deserved that_ , she thinks.

“Do you wanna get some distraction?”, Jiyeon asks. “I know a place.” Jeongyeon looks at her for a second, trying to figure out what she’s thinking of.

 

“Yeah, let’s go.”

 

 

Nayeon doesn’t consider herself the love doctor, but she believes she does know a thing or two about love, given that she has been in the same relationship for what feels like most of her life. (With the most perfect girl, too.)

So she sits in the cozy Italian restaurant Tzuyu chose for them, tipsy and red-faced from cheap wine, telling Dahyun how proud she is of her to deal with her issue the way she did. Momo laughs next to her, probably feeling sorry for her, but doesn’t interfere. Knowing her, Nayeon guesses she enjoys it a little bit, too. Mina quietly eats her dinner, but Nayeon can see her fighting a grin as well.

“That’s the key, Dahyun”, Nayeon sighs happily, “communication. Nothing works without communication, isn’t that right, Momo?”

“Very right”, Momo grins.

“It’s so important to always talk to each other, isn’t it, Momo?”

“So important!”

“Please, Nayeon”, Dahyun mumbles, obviously deeply sheepish. “Can we talk about something else?”

Momo changes the subject, most likely to feeling bad for Dahyun now. Nayeon has always enjoyed teasing more than she has. “I’ve thought about this for a while… what would you guys think about a double date? We could get out of school at the weekend, grab some food and do something after?”

“Love it”, Nayeon promptly says. Momo purses her lips. “You say that to every idea I have.”

“Because I love you”, Nayeon grins. Momo smiles happily and leans in for a quick kiss.

Mina looks touched by the public affection. Dahyun seems rather disgusted.

“I think I’d like a double date”, Mina speaks up, “I’ve never been on one.”

“Yeah, me neither”, Dahyun says, squeezing Mina’s hand. “Sounds fun!”

Nayeon hasn’t either, if she thinks about it. They did once go to karaoke with Jeongyeon and Jiyeon, but that was more of a spontaneous trip and less than a date. And it has been some time since she and Momo met up - as in, get dressed and paint the town red. When you’ve been together since you were barely teenagers, dating turns domestic pretty easily, she supposes. Then again, since boarding school prohibits going out all week, maybe they don’t have quite the possibilities.

Momo rests her head on Nayeon’s shoulders, sighing. Nayeon shoots Momo’s empty place a knowing look.

“You need a paracetamol for the stomachache?”

“I love you”, Momo mumbles. “I know I shouldn’t have eaten so much.”

“I didn’t say anything”, Nayeon says.

“I knew you were thinking it.”

“You know me well.”

“Well, you know me well, too, I guess”, Momo sighs, already getting sleepy. One of her many habits Nayeon knows by heart.

Nayeon pats Momo’s stomach, silently sending her love (she knows Momo’s going to receive it).

“I sure do.”

 

 

The place Jiyeon has taken her to smells like someone burned a garden of marijuana. Jeongyeon can barely see her hand in front of her. Luckily, there’s Jiyeon who’s mercilessly dragging her through a crowd of sweat-drenched, dancing people. Jeongyeon tries to keep a neutral face and not scrunch it in disgust.

She has never been in this club before ; now she knows why. There’s stickers and crass obscenities dripping from the walls, broken glass on the floor, items idly and sloppily making out in corners. Not the kind of scene she and her friend would prefer. Sana wouldn’t.

She’s probably going to be here for a while.

Eventually, Jiyeon stops and sits down on a couch, supposedly for special payers as it looks slightly less shabby than the rest of the club. Jeongyeon hesitates to follow her example - having the subtle feeling that she won’t be getting up so soon -, but she guesses sitting down and shaking the dizziness she’s slowly getting off would be better than standing.

“It’s… very cozy”, she says. Jiyeon snorts, as if she knew that this place is the epitome of hell itself.

”If that’s how you want to describe it”, she grins, “I just have lots of friends here. Hey, Luda!” She gets the attention of a small bartender in a short dress.

Jeongyeon gets goosebumps when “Luda” turns around. Everything about her looks, from the golden locks to her petite statue screams angelic, but her eyes tell otherwise. Scary. “What do you want, Bona?”, she yells back, her lips only indicating a curl upside.

“ _Bona?”_ Jeongyeon mouths to Jiyeon. Jiyeon just waves it off.

 

“Bring us some champagne, will you?”

 

Her ex sure knows how to drink. After they’ve reached some bottles’ ground, her head is spinning hard, and she’s scared to just falli over when she stands up, so she doesn’t bother.

“Hey, Jiyeon?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks. For this. And all.”

Jiyeon gives her a look she can’t quite identify. “You’re welcome. You looked like you need it.”

Oh. Sympathy.

Jeongyeon feels her heart clench, and even though she knows she’s already pretty fucking drunk, she asks, “Can you get us one another one of those bottles? It’s on me.”

“Cheers, then.”

 

And into darkness she goes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is like. way not angsty enough dw were going there


End file.
